DR Congo Ebola Outbreak: World Food Programme to increase food relief in hotspots
Updated 14:30, 07-Aug-2019
Turning to Africa, The World Food Programme says it will increase relief food distribution in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The efforts will target two eastern provinces, where more than 18-hundred people have died of Ebola since last August. CGTN's Chris Ocamringa has more.
Health workers in eastern DRC educate the locals about the Ebola virus. The outbreak was largely confined to the provinces of North Kivu and Ituri. But it recently spread to Goma - a densely populated city that's close to the Rwandan border. Humanitarian agencies like the World Food Programme have scaled up their activities in preparation for a wider outbreak.
JACQUES DAVID WFP COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER "Regarding this situation we have decided to increase our food assistance to these Ebola patients, their families and also to the contacts."
The Ebola outbreak has disrupted the lives of many people in North Kivu province. And their situation has been made worse by the insecurity in the area.
JACQUES DAVID WFP COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER "They (Ebola patients) cannot go to work or to the fields to farm their lands so this is why we distribute the food."
The head of the DRC's Ebola response says they'll apply new strategies to contain the disease.
PROF JEAN-JACQUES MUYEMBE DRC EBOLA RESPONSE LEADER "We will introduce a screening for all patients with fever and introduce a rapid test for malaria and Ebola. So we will detect cases of Ebola very early and take measures for the vaccination and the surveillance."
Health officials have urged the locals to maintain basic hygiene and avoid contact with bodily fluids from infected people to protect themselves from contracting Ebola.
CHRIS OCAMRINGA KINSHASA, DRC "The DRC's interim health minister Pierre Kangudia travelled to Goma to meet with Rwandan officials to assure them of the DRC's commitment to prevent the disease from spreading. The meeting comes a week after Rwanda temporarily shut its border with the DRC after an Ebola death was reported in the eastern city. Chris Ocamringa, CGTN, Kinshasa, DRC."